Dual action shotgun

ABSTRACT

The dual action shotgun includes a receiver that has an auto-loading mechanism coupled to a magazine. The magazine extends outwardly from the receiver to facilitate sliding movement of an action arm thereon relative to the receiver. A manually operable foregrip also slidable along the magazine is positioned to manually operate the action arm to prepare a cartridge and the firing mechanism of the shotgun independent of the operation of the auto-loading mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a dual action shotgun. More particularly, the invention relates to a dual action shotgun incorporating an auto-loader for automatically loading and firing the shotgun and a manually operable foregrip capable of preparing a cartridge and the firing mechanism in the event the auto-loader jams or the shotgun misfires.

Shotguns were first introduced in the early 1600's and have since become widely used in society, being used in the military, with law enforcement and for personal use (e.g. hunting). Over time, several different types of shotgun designs have been developed, such as auto-loading, pump action, break action and bolt action shotguns. Unlike most guns that use ammunition designed to strike specific objects, shotguns use cartridges or shells designed to emit a wider stream of potentially deadly projectiles. In this respect, shotguns are better suited for striking targets that are closer to the shooter. In general, shotguns are fired by pulling a trigger that causes a hammer or firing pin to strike an explosive charge on the back of the cartridge. The explosion changes the air pressure in the barrel and forces the contents of the cartridge (e.g. a bullet or metal pellets) out the end of the barrel. Shotgun ammo may come in various shapes and sizes, such as lead, steel and bismuth pellets, bean bags, rock salt, rocket-like sabots, individual metal slugs, etc.

Most shotguns have a stock that allows the shooter to steady the gun against the shoulder muscles. Some shotguns include a recoil pad at the end of the stock to help dampen the kickback when the shotgun is fired. Other shotguns may include a foldaway stock or no stock at all. These shotguns are typically characterized as “assault” style shotguns. Forward from the stock are the parts associated with the firing mechanism. These parts may include a trigger that connects to the sear and hammer. The hammer activates the bolt assembly and the firing pin, which rests against the cartridge to be fired. Forward of the cartridge is the chamber where the loading, unloading and firing occurs. This chamber is typically accessible from the side or top of the shotgun. The barrel of the shotgun generally comprises a long tube through which the shot travels as it leaves the gun when fired.

Break action shotguns in particular have a hinged opening where the chamber meets the bolt face. Here, the user may open the gun about the hinge to access the chamber that holds the cartridges. By opening the gun, it is fairly easy to see whether the shotgun is loaded. If the shotgun is not loaded, the user may manually insert a cartridge into the chamber. The shotgun is then closed by pivoting the gun back about the hinge. The hammer may then be automatically or manually cocked into position. With break action shotguns, the user is limited in the amount of cartridges that may be loaded at one time. For example, the shooter is limited to one cartridge for single-barrel shotguns and two cartridges for double-barrel shotguns. After the cartridge(s) are fired, the user must again break open the barrel about the hinge to manually remove the spent cartridges and load new cartridge(s) into the chamber. Loading and reloading a shotgun in this respect is a slow and tedious process. Accordingly, break action shotguns are not particularly suited for law enforcement or military use.

A bolt action shotgun is different than a break action shotgun in that it incorporates a manually operable bolt that opens and closes the breech (barrel) through use of a small handle. In fact, the bolt action shotgun is designed to better automate the reloading process relative to a break action shotgun. To load a bolt-action shotgun, the shooter rotates the bolt handle up and pulls it back. This action performs several operations such as exposing the chamber, cocking the firing mechanism and extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge. The shooter then loads a new cartridge into the chamber and pushes the bolt forward into place. If the shotgun uses a magazine, pushing the bolt forward strips the top cartridge from the magazine, blocks the cartridge off, and prepares the shotgun for firing. After firing, the user pulls the bolt back to extract and eject the spent cartridge. With forward movement of the bolt, the next cartridge from the magazine is stripped from the cartridge and loaded into the chamber for firing. In the event a cartridge jams, the shooter is required to open the chamber with the bolt, reposition or eject the jammed cartridge, and close the chamber. In life threatening situations such as may be encountered by law enforcement or military personnel, jamming a bolt action shotgun may mean life or death.

Pump action shotguns further improve on the bolt-action shotguns by better automating the bolt-action. Here, pump action shotguns make use of a bolt system operated by a slide called a foregrip. The foregrip is used to partially automate the loading and unloading process. Pump action shotguns generally use a tubular magazine positioned below and parallel to the barrel to hold the ammunition. The shotgun is loaded by filling the magazine tube with several cartridges. The ammunition in the magazine tube is held in tension by a spring. When the magazine is loaded, the user pulls the foregrip to the rear of the shotgun. This movement causes the action arms to move the bolt assembly back to extract and eject anything loaded in the chamber, reset the hammer, and load a new cartridge into the chamber from the magazine tube. Returning the foregrip toward the front of the shotgun pulls the bolt forward, loads a new round into the chamber from the magazine tube, and positions the bolt assembly against the cartridge. The shotgun is then ready for firing. After the round is fired, the pump action is repeated to extract and eject the used cartridge and to reload the shotgun. One particularly desirable feature of a pump action shotgun is that the action is all mechanical and linear. The mechanism is, therefore, fairly simple and less likely to fail or jam. While an experienced shooter can repeat the motion of firing and pumping to reload the shotgun, such manual motion is still slower than automatically loading the cartridges with an auto-loading mechanism.

In this regard, automatic shotguns speed up the shooting process through the use of automatic loading and unloading mechanisms. Auto-loading shotguns generally include a magazine of cartridges coupled to the firing chamber to alleviate the need to constantly manually reload the shotgun. The shotgun is able to fire cartridges continuously through rapid pulling of the trigger or by pulling and holding the trigger. An auto-loading mechanism takes the pump-action design one step further by employing mechanisms similar to machine guns. For example, a recoil-operated auto-loader uses the force naturally generated by the firing process recoil to extract and eject the spent cartridge, get a new cartridge from the magazine and prepare the new cartridge for firing in the chamber. For example, the explosion from the cartridge may force the barrel and the bolt to travel backward so the spent cartridge can be extracted and ejected. The barrel and bolt are returned by a spring. During return, the bolt loads a new cartridge from the magazine tube and the mechanism resets itself so the shooter can fire another round once the barrel and bolt lock back into place. One drawback, however, of automatic shotguns is that as the design gets more complex and has more moving parts, there is a greater risk of operator error, misfire or jamming. In this respect, an autoloader is considered less reliable than pump-action or break-action shotguns. Reliability is particularly important when a shotgun is used in military or law enforcement situations. In fact, a shotgun that jams during combat in the military can mean life or death for the shooter.

In the event the autoloaders known in the art jam or misfire, the shooter must take at least one hand off the shotgun (e.g. either off the trigger or off the body of the shotgun), reach around, activate an external handle on the bolt, pull the bolt back, snap the cartridge into place, and reactivate the system with the same cartridge reset or a new cartridge from the magazine. Thereafter, the shooter can return the hand back to the gun (either the trigger or the barrel) to resume shooting. In time sensitive situations such as combat or law enforcement, the few seconds it takes to complete this cycle could mean life or death of the operator.

Thus, there is a need in the art for a dual action shotgun that combines the speed of automatically loading cartridges from a magazine with the reliability and speed of a manual pump-action mechanism. Such a dual action shotgun should provide a mechanism for automatically loading and firing cartridges from the receiver and a mechanism that enables the shooter to quickly manually reset the cartridge or load a new cartridge in the event the auto-loading mechanism fails or jams. Preferably, such a pump-action mechanism can be operated without removing a hand from the shotgun in order to enhance the speed and safety of operating the dual action shotgun in combat or law enforcement environments. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The dual action shotgun disclosed herein includes a receiver that has an auto-loading mechanism coupled to a magazine for automatically preparing a cartridge to be fired from the shotgun. The auto-loading mechanism preferably includes a gas operated auto-loading mechanism, a blow-back auto-loading mechanism, a recoil-based auto-loading mechanism, or an inertia driven auto-loading mechanism. The magazine extends outwardly from the receiver to facilitate movement of a manual pump-action mechanism used in association with the auto-loading mechanism. In one aspect of the dual action shotgun, an action arm is coupled to the magazine and is slidable relative to the receiver. A manually operable foregrip is slidable along the magazine and positioned to manually operate the action arm. Such action prepares the cartridge and firing mechanism of the shotgun independent of the operation of the auto-loading mechanism.

The dual action shotgun further includes an alignment member slidable along the magazine. The alignment member is disposed between an engagement block integrated into the interior of the foregrip and a coupling concentrically positioned along the magazine and coupled to the action arm. Preferably, the alignment member includes at least one flange that slidably resides within a channel in the foregrip. The foregrip prevents the alignment member from twisting or pivoting about the magazine through engagement of the flange with the channel in the foregrip. The alignment member also includes an aperture for retaining a detent therein. The detent pivots relative to the alignment member about a rocker positioned within the aperture. The detent selectively engages or disengages a barrel retaining ring coupled to the magazine. When engaged, the detent selectively locks the alignment member to the barrel retaining ring to prevent movement of the alignment member relative to the coupling and action arm.

Additionally, a spring is positioned between the coupling and the receiver to bias the action arm and the coupling away from the receiver. Preferably, the action arm is configured to operate with the auto-loading mechanism independently from operation with the manually operable foregrip. That is, the coupling and action arm are able to move independently from the alignment member and the foregrip. For example, a second spring disposed between a collar of the alignment member and an engagement block of the foregrip is configured to bias a detent toward engagement with a notch in the barrel retaining ring. The barrel retaining ring is stationary along the length of the magazine. So, engagement of the detent, which pivots within a cylindrical extension of the alignment member, prevents movement of the alignment member and the foregrip coupled thereto. This second spring is also coupled to an engagement block of the foregrip to bias the foregrip away from the receiver so the detent remains engaged to the barrel retaining ring. Moving the foregrip along the length of the magazine toward the receiver depresses the second spring into the collar to release the pressure on the back of the detent. The engagement block is also preferably positioned relative to the detent to help facilitate the selective engagement or disengagement of the detent from the barrel retaining ring, depending on the positioning of the foregrip. When the foregrip is moved toward the receiver, the engagement block preferably slides over a portion of the detent that is angled outwardly relative to the length of the magazine to pivot the detent about the rocker so the arms of the detent rotate out of engagement with the barrel retaining ring. Disengagement of the detent permits the foregrip to move the alignment member and the combination of the coupling and the action arm into the receiver to manually reset or reload the shotgun.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the dual action shotgun as disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a partial exploded perspective view of the dual action shotgun;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the dual action shotgun;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional exploded perspective view of the dual action shotgun, illustrating the arrangement of the alignment member relative to the foregrip;

FIG. 5 is an alternative partial cross-sectional perspective view of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view similar to FIG. 5, illustrating activation of the manually operable foregrip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the present invention for a dual action shotgun is referred to generally by the reference number 10. In FIG. 1, the shotgun 10 is shown including many of the basic components found in many shotguns, such as a stock 12, a receiver 14, a barrel 16 and a magazine tube 18. The stock 12 is used to position the shotgun 10 against the shoulder or other portion of the upper body to stabilize the shotgun 10 before firing. Preferably, the stock 12 is the full stock 12 shown in FIG. 1. Although, any stock known in the art may be used with the dual action shotgun 10. Extending from the stock 12 is the receiver 14. The receiver 14 houses the bolt assembly within the interior of the shotgun 10. The bolt assembly is the primary operating system that extracts, ejects, loads, and fires the shotgun 10. Cartridges are preferably loaded automatically into the receiver 14 from the magazine tube 18 by any auto-loading mechanism known in the art, such as a gas operated auto-loading mechanism, a blow-back auto-loading mechanism, a recoil auto-loading mechanism, or an inertia driven auto-loading mechanism. These auto-loading mechanisms make use of gas, blow-back, recoil, or inertia, for example, to load a cartridge from the magazine tube 18 for placement into a firing chamber. Pulling a trigger 20 activates the firing mechanism to expel the cartridge. Such an auto-loading mechanism then ejects the spent cartridge out from within the receiver 14 through an ejection port 22, resets the firing mechanism, and obtains a new cartridge from the magazine tube 18 for placement into the chamber. The next round is then ready to be fired.

As described above, such auto-loading mechanisms are particularly preferred for use in environments where the speed of firing and reloading may be critical to the shooter using a shotgun. One particular drawback of using such an auto-loading mechanism is that they are prone to jamming or misfiring. Shotguns known in the art include a bolt mechanism that requires the shooter to reach around a portion of the shotgun to manually reset the auto-loader firing mechanism in the event the shotgun jams or misfires. This particular mechanism may be used with a telescoping bolt, such as might be used with the Benelli M4. In order to manually operate the bolt mechanism in the M4, a user must take one hand off a portion of the shotgun, a hand either supporting the shotgun for purposes of aiming or for pulling the trigger. Doing this causes delay in resetting the jammed or misfired cartridge and resetting the firing mechanism. Of course, critical time can be lost without the ability to quickly manually reset the firing mechanism of a shotgun. The dual action shotgun 10 disclosed herein is designed to rectify the deficiencies in designs such as the Benelli M4.

FIG. 1 illustrates a dual action shotgun 10 that is manually operable from underneath the shotgun 10, as opposed to the side of the shotgun. In this respect, the dual action shotgun 10 includes a manual reset or firing preparation mechanism that operates similar to pump-action shotguns. Similar to pump-action shotguns, the dual action shotgun 10 includes a magazine tube 18 extending out from the receiver 14. The magazine tube 18 carries a number of components designed to manually actuate the firing mechanism so that the shooter may easily extract, eject, reset and otherwise load a new cartridge into the firing chamber in the event the shotgun 10 jams or otherwise misfires. In this respect, the shotgun 10 includes a pair of action arms 26 that have a coupling 28 that selectively slides relative to and concentric with the magazine tube 18. Each action arm 26 mates to the receiver 14 by a pair of channels 30 therein. The action arms 26 move back and forth within the interior of the receiver 14 in the channels 30. The action arms 26 may operate a carrier plate and bolt within the interior of the receiver 14, which are known in the art to be used in conjunction with loading a cartridge and setting the firing mechanism. The coupling 28 is biased away from the receiver 14 by a spring 32. As shown in FIG. 2, the spring 32 is preferably a coil spring that abuts the coupling 28 on one side and abuts the face of the receiver 14 on the other side. The spring 32 may compress along the longitudinal length of the magazine tube 18 such that the dual action shotgun 10 may be operated lengthwise.

Positioned in front of the coupling 28 is an alignment member 34. The alignment member 34 also slides concentrically onto the magazine tube 18 and includes a pair of flanges 36 that reside within respective channels 38 formed from the interior of a foregrip 40. The foregrip 40 prevents the flanges 36 from twisting or rotating about the magazine tube 18. The alignment member 34 further includes a cylindrical extension 42 having a pair of apertures 44 formed therein to receive a pair of detents 46. A collar 48 somewhat larger in diameter than the extension 42 is configured to provide a surface against which a spring 50 may bias against to push the foregrip 40 away from the receiver 14. In this regard, the spring 50 is designed to position the foregrip 40 in a disengaged position such that the shotgun 10 is operable automatically by any of the aforementioned auto-loading mechanisms. More specifically, the spring 50 is biased between the collar 48 and a pair of engagement blocks 52 formed from the interior of the foregrip 40. As described in more detail below, movement of the foregrip 40 toward the receiver 14 causes the spring 50 to depress between the engagement blocks 52 and the collar 48. Continued movement eventually causes the coupling 28 to compress the spring 32 against the exterior of the receiver 14. This enables the shooter to slide the action arms 26 into the receiver 14 to either reset or load a new cartridge from, for example, the magazine tube 18 coupled to the receiver 14.

FIG. 2 more specifically illustrates the spring 32 biased between the exterior of the receiver 14 and the interior surface of the coupling 28. The spring 32 is designed to bias the action arms 26 out from engagement within the interior of the receiver 14. The alignment member 34 is also shown in FIG. 2 positioned just in front of the coupling 28. While the coupling 28 and the alignment member 34 abut one another, each can selectively move independently of each other. In fact, the spring 50 biases the detents 46 into a position that locks the location of the alignment member 34. The spring 50 abuts a rocker 54 (best shown in FIG. 1) that resides within the interior and pivots relative to respective apertures 44. The rocker 54 in essence permits the detents 46 to rotate between engagement with a barrel retaining ring 56 that includes one or more notches 58 (best shown in FIG. 1). The detents 46 each include an arm 60 that selectively engages or disengages respective notches 58 in the barrel retaining ring 56, depending on the positioning of the foregrip 40, as described in more detail below.

To assemble the shotgun 10, the shooter first slides the spring 32 onto the magazine tube 18. Next, the coupling 28 likewise slides onto the magazine tube 18 and is positioned so the action arms 26 can slidably engage the channels 30. The alignment member 34 then slidably engages the magazine tube 18 behind the coupling 28. Thereafter, the spring 50 is disposed concentrically over the extension 42 followed by engaging the barrel 16 and the associated barrel retaining ring 56 with the receiver 14 and the magazine tube 18, respectively. The rockers 54 on each of the detents 46 are snapped into the apertures 44 such that the arms 60 engage the respective notches 58 in the barrel retaining ring 56. Next, the foregrip 40 slidably engages the action arm 26. In this respect, the foregrip 40 and each of the flanges 36 of the alignment member 34 must be aligned such that the flanges 36 slidably engage the channels 38 in the foregrip 40. Engagement of the flanges 36 with the channels 38 ensures that the alignment member 34 does not inadvertently rotate or pivot about the magazine tube 18. The foregrip 40 is held in place along the length of the magazine tube 18 by engaging a cap 62 with a set of threads 64 engraved at the end of the magazine tube 18 furthest from the receiver 14. The cap 62 includes a larger diameter retainer 66 and a smaller diameter plug 68 that selectively engage an aperture 70 in an exterior surface 72 of the foregrip 40. The cap 62 is preferably tightened by screwing the cap 62 onto the threads 64 of the magazine tube 18. Each of the springs 32 and 50 bias the coupling 28, the alignment member 34, and the detents 46 away from the receiver 14. As a result of engagement with the engagement blocks 52, the foregrip 40 is likewise biased away from the receiver 14 and toward the cap 62. The plug 68 matingly engages the aperture 70 in the foregrip 40 while the larger diameter retainer 66 engages the outer exterior surface 72 of the foregrip 40, as shown in FIG. 3. The cap 62 is designed to prevent the foregrip 40 from being pushed off the magazine tube 18 by either of the springs 32 or 50. As shown in FIG. 3, the foregrip 40 is preferably somewhat shorter than the length of the magazine tube 18 to allow the shooter to pull the foregrip 40 toward the receiver 14 in a manner similar to the operation of traditional pump-action shotgun. The foregrip 40 simply moves the action arms 26 into the receiver 14 to either reset, eject, or reload a cartridge from the magazine tube 18 in order to manually reset the auto-loading and firing mechanism of the shotgun 10.

FIG. 4 illustrates a partial cross-sectional exploded perspective view of the shotgun 10 disclosed herein. Specifically, FIG. 4 illustrates alignment of the flanges 36 with the channels 38 of the foregrip 40. The alignment member 34 could otherwise rotate about the magazine tube 18 but for the flanges 36 residing within the channels 38. In this respect, the channels 38 include an upper extension 74 and a lower extension 76 that partially encompass the top and bottom portions of the flanges 36. Alignment therewith ensures that the foregrip 40 slides longitudinally along the length of the magazine tube 18. This further ensures that the action arms 26 stay aligned with the respective channels 30 to permit quick and easy sliding movement along the magazine tube 18. Twisting of the action arms 26 could otherwise cause the shotgun 10 to bind.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate activation of the pump-action mechanism through movement of the foregrip 40, in accordance with the embodiments described above. Specifically, FIG. 5 illustrates the shotgun 10 in a resting or an initial position wherein the auto-loading mechanism may load cartridges into the receiver 14. In this position, the shotgun 10 may operate to fire cartridges from within the interior of the receiver 14 in accordance with any of the auto-loading mechanisms known in the art. The manually operable foregrip 40 described herein becomes handy in the event that the auto-loading mechanism either jams or the shotgun 10 misfires.

In the initial position shown in FIG. 5, the action arms 26 are positioned part way into the interior of the receiver 14. In this respect, the action arms 26 may be coupled to a slide (not shown) as would be used in a traditional pump-action shotgun. Here, the slide is used to push the breach bolt back and move the locking block out of the firing position and retract the firing pin. As the slide reaches the back of the receiver 14, the slide depresses the hammer, the hammer spring and the carrier such that the firing mechanism resets. The action arms 26 may move independently of the foregrip 40 or the alignment member 34 because the coupling 28 is not otherwise affixed thereto. Rather, the coupling 28 and the attached action arms 26 are merely positioned between the receiver 14 and the alignment member 34 by the spring 32. Independent movement of the coupling 28 and the action arms 26 enable the end of the action arms 26 within the interior of the receiver 14 to couple to and operate with the firing mechanism of the shotgun 10. In this respect, the action arms 26 may automatically be reset, despite not moving the foregrip 40, through use of any of the aforementioned auto-loading mechanisms, such as the blow-back system, the recoil system or another automatic loading system. For example, the action arms 26 may couple to one or more springs used in a recoil system such that the recoil experienced after firing a cartridge causes the action arm 26 to move toward the stock 12 to reset the breach bolt and trigger sear after the cartridge is fired. Such movement opens up the firing chamber such that a spring-tensioned cartridge is automatically injected into the receiver 14 from the magazine tube 18. The spring 32 would return the action arms 26 back into a firing position when the force of the recoil dissipates. In normal operating conditions, the new cartridge would be ready to be fired through activation of the trigger sear with the externally accessible trigger. The blow-back system operates similar to the recoil system in that the energy produced as a result of firing a cartridge causes the bolt to slide backward into the receiver 14 (toward the stock 12) to clear the chamber for the spring-tensioned magazine tube 18 to automatically inject a new cartridge into the firing chamber. Each of these components are held in tension by spring-based mechanisms that would be coupled to the action arms 26 such that the action arms 26 can be manually activated, as described in more detail below, in the event that the shotgun 10 jams or misfires.

In the initial position shown in FIG. 5, the detents 46 engage the notches 58 in the barrel retaining ring 56. The spring 50 abuts the interior of the engagement block 52 (best shown in FIG. 6) such that the foregrip 40 is pushed against the cap 62. The spring 50 is also disposed up underneath the detents 46 adjacent to the rocker 54. This causes the detents 46 to rotate forward to engage the barrel retaining ring 56 as shown in FIG. 5. In this position, the foregrip 40 and the alignment member 34 are locked in position such that the action arms 26 and the coupling 28 may move independently thereof as described above.

To activate the pump-action mechanism described herein, the foregrip 40 is grasped by the shooter and pulled toward the receiver 14. This is particularly preferred and advantageous over the embodiments described with respect to the prior art because the foregrip 40 is held by the non-shooting hand anyway. This enables the user to reset or reload the shotgun 10 without taking a hand off the shotgun 10. Such a manual pump-action mechanism is certainly more user friendly and faster to use than the externally accessible bolt found in the Benelli M4. Sliding the foregrip 40 along the directional arrow shown in FIG. 6 first causes the foregrip 40 to move away from the cap 62 by compressing the spring 50. This causes the spring 50 to disengage from the detents 46. Disengagement removes the pressure that rotates the detents 46 about the rocker 54 into engagement with the notches 58 in the barrel retaining ring 56. Additionally, the engagement block 52 is configured to slide along the exterior of the detents 46 to selectively engage a leg 78 opposite the arms 60 relative to the rocker 54. The legs 78 are angled slightly outwardly relative to the longitudinal alignment of the magazine tube 18. Moving the engagement block 52 over the legs 78 causes the detents 46 to rotate about the rockers 54 such that the arms 60 rotate out of the notches 58 to disengage the alignment member 34 from the barrel retaining ring 56. If the shooter were to release the foregrip 40 at this point, the spring 50 would simply push the engagement block 52 away from the receiver 14 back to the position shown in FIG. 5. The spring 50 would then again slide underneath the legs 78, thereby causing the detents 46 to rotate forward about the rockers 54 such that the arms 60 move toward the magazine tube 18 for eventual reengagement with the barrel retaining ring 56. Preferably, the arms 60 are somewhat angled to allow the detents 46 to slide relative to one side of the engagement notches 58 in a manner that does not prevent the detents 46 from reengaging the opposite side of the notches 58.

With reference back to FIG. 6, once the spring 50 is fully compressed by the engagement block 52 and the detents 46 are disengaged from the notches 58 in the barrel retaining ring 56, the alignment member 34 begins to move lengthwise along the length of the magazine tube 18 toward the coupling 28. This movement compresses the spring 32 into the wall of the receiver 14. This causes the attached action arms 26 to move into the interior of the receiver 14. In essence, this has the same effect as if the shotgun 10 were being activated by any of the above-described auto-loading mechanisms. Instead of the recoil or blow-back resultant from firing a cartridge activating movement of the action arm 26, manual movement of the foregrip 40 along the length of the magazine tube 18 performs a substantially similar action in resetting or loading cartridge(s) into the firing chamber of the receiver 14. Once the shotgun 10 is reset, the springs 32 and 50 return the foregrip 40, the action arms 26, the coupling 28, the alignment member 34, and the detents 46 back to the position shown in FIG. 5. This may be accomplished by releasing the force exerted on the foregrip 40 along the directional arrow shown in FIG. 6. This enables the shooter to simply reset or load a new cartridge into the receiver 14 without taking a hand off of the foregrip 40, which is typically used to steady or aim the shotgun 10. This particular feature of the shotgun 10 is particularly preferred over other embodiments known in the art in that the shooter does not have to take a hand off of the body of the shotgun to reset the firing mechanism, for example, by using a bolt externally accessible on one side of the shotgun. Thus, the dual action shotgun 10 uses the speed of an auto-loading mechanism with the reliability of a manually operable pump-action mechanism.

Although several embodiments have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited, except as by the appended claims. 

1. A dual action shotgun, comprising: a receiver having an auto-loading mechanism for automatically preparing a cartridge to be fired from the shotgun; a magazine coupled to and extending outwardly from the receiver; an action arm coupled to the magazine and slidable relative to the receiver; and a manually operable foregrip slidable along the magazine and positioned to manually operate the action arm to prepare the cartridge and firing mechanism of the shotgun independent of the operation of the auto-loading mechanism.
 2. The shotgun of claim 1, wherein the action arm includes a coupling disposed about and slidable relative to the magazine.
 3. The shotgun of claim 2, including a spring positioned between the coupling and the receiver to bias the action arm away from the receiver.
 4. The shotgun of claim 1, including an alignment member slidable along the magazine and coupled to the foregrip.
 5. The shotgun of claim 4, wherein the alignment member includes a flange that slidably resides within a channel in the foregrip.
 6. The shotgun of claim 4, including a detent that pivots relative to the alignment member to selectively engage a barrel retaining ring coupled to the magazine.
 7. The shotgun of claim 6, wherein the detent selectively locks the alignment member to the barrel retaining ring.
 8. The shotgun of claim 7, including a spring disposed between the alignment member and an engagement block of the foregrip.
 9. The shotgun of claim 8, wherein the spring biases the detent toward engagement with the barrel retaining ring.
 10. The shotgun of claim 8, wherein the engagement block is positioned to selectively engage or disengage the detent from the barrel retaining ring with movement of the foregrip.
 11. The shotgun of claim 8, wherein the alignment member is disposed between the engagement block and the action arm.
 12. The shotgun of claim 1, wherein the auto-loading mechanism comprises a gas operated mechanism, a blow-back mechanism, a recoil mechanism, or an inertia driven mechanism.
 13. The shotgun of claim 1, wherein the magazine comprises a tube disposed below a barrel of the shotgun.
 14. A dual action shotgun, comprising: a receiver for receiving a cartridge to be fired from the shotgun; a magazine coupled to and extending outwardly from the receiver; an action arm coupled to an auto-loading mechanism and movable thereby within the receiver, wherein the action arm includes a coupling disposed about and slidable relative to the magazine; a manually operable foregrip slidable along the magazine and positioned to manually operate the action arm to prepare the cartridge and firing mechanism of the shotgun independent of the operation of the auto-loading mechanism; an alignment member slidable along the magazine and coupled to the foregrip; a detent pivotable relative to the alignment member to selectively engage a barrel retaining ring coupled to the magazine; and a spring disposed between the alignment member and an engagement block of the foregrip.
 15. The shotgun of claim 14, including a second spring positioned between the coupling and the receiver to bias the action arm away from the receiver, wherein the alignment member is disposed between the engagement block and the action arm.
 16. The shotgun of claim 14, wherein the alignment member includes a flange that slidably resides within a channel in the foregrip and the engagement block is positioned to selectively engage or disengage the detent from the barrel retaining ring with movement of the foregrip.
 17. The shotgun of claim 14, wherein the detent selectively locks the alignment member to the barrel retaining ring and the spring biases the detent toward engagement with the barrel retaining ring.
 18. The shotgun of claim 14, wherein the auto-loading mechanism comprises a gas operated mechanism, a blow-back mechanism, a recoil mechanism, or an inertia driven mechanism.
 19. A dual action shotgun, comprising: a receiver; a magazine coupled to and extending outwardly from the receiver; an action arm coupled to an auto-loading mechanism and movable thereby within the receiver; a manually operable foregrip slidable along the magazine and positioned to manually operate the action arm to prepare a cartridge for firing independent of the operation of the auto-loading mechanism; an alignment member slidable along the magazine and including a flange that slidably resides within a channel in the foregrip, wherein the alignment member is disposed between an engagement block of the foregrip and a coupling of the action arm; a detent pivotable relative to the alignment member to selectively engage a barrel retaining ring coupled to the magazine; and a spring disposed between the alignment member and the engagement block, wherein the engagement block is positioned to selectively engage or disengage the detent from the barrel retaining ring with movement of the foregrip.
 20. The shotgun of claim 19, including a second spring positioned between the coupling and the receiver to bias the action arm away from the receiver, wherein the detent selectively locks the alignment member to the barrel retaining ring, the spring biases the detent toward engagement with the barrel retaining ring and the auto-loading mechanism comprises a gas operated mechanism, a blow-back mechanism, a recoil mechanism, or an inertia driven mechanism. 